by Bethany
Once I decided to make a quilt, and chose a pattern and colors (
you can read about that here), the next step was to choose fabric. Over Thanksgiving 2014, we visited my parents in Mechanicsburg, PA. My mom and I spent a pleasant morning driving to Lancaster County and visiting three different fabric stores. None of them were chains; they were all family-owned, and catered to the Amish and other locals who not only quilt but also make most of their clothes by hand.
Choosing the fabric is definitely part of the fun of quilt-making! Even going into the store is a treat, seeing row upon row of fabric in every color imaginable.
It's a real feast for the eyes! And the fingers - many of the fabrics feel different, from plain cotton to suede or velvet, and everything in between. Even though we were only looking for quilting cotton, of course we needed to feel the other, softer fabrics, too...!
We enjoyed seeing the Amish wares for sale:
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| Ladies' bonnets and gents' hats |
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| More colorful options |
We took our time browsing through the fabric options. I knew I was looking for dark blue, light blue, gold, and white - but there were multiple options for each color! For example, the white could be just plain, flat white, or a shimmery white, or a white with a pattern. Same for the other colors. There were also plenty of fabrics that were predominately one color but had another color or colors incorporated. And the trick was to choose fabric that looked well together.
We ended up buying samples from three stores, and then purchasing our final material from two of the stores. We were very pleased with the results!
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| light blue close up: I love the swirls |
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| All four colors together: I'm especially pleased with how gold the gold fabric is |
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| Dark blue close up: leafy details |
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| White close up: dandelion puffs |
All in all, a very successful fabric-buying trip!
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| Me & Mom |
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